Apple Music now has 15 million users

Of those 15 million subscribers, only 6.5 million are paid-up members. The 8.5 million majority are still making use of Apple’s three month free trial offer.

The figures were revealed by Apple CEO Tim Cook during the WSJD Live event recently. He claimed to be pleased with how well Apple Music was performing, and pointed to the service’s human curation element as a key feature that was pulling customers in.

Apple Music’s numbers pale somewhat when compared to Spotify’s, which at the last count claimed to have 75 million active users, 20 million of which are paid subscribers. Of course, Spotify has been around since 2008, while Apple Music only launched in June.

That fact also means that October is the first full month since Apple Music’s launch in which people have begun having to pay for it. The figures also show that Apple Music has attracted 4 million new free trialists since August.

Apple Music launched on June 30, and has received a somewhat mixed response from critics. While elements like the free Beats 1 radio station and curated playlists have attracted praise, the service’s complex interface and somewhat glitchy nature have been criticised.Next, take a look at our iOS 9 features video: